November 1st

Congratulations! For so many of the seniors today represents a significant milestone. As you hit "submit" on your college applications, we know there were mixed emotions - relief that the essay revisions were complete, hope for the possibility of being admitted, nervousness about the possibility of being rejected, and excitement that you had accomplished something that is a typical senior task.

We know many of you still have additional applications to work on over the next few months, but for tonight, take a deep breath and be proud of your hard work.

Reminders

Pre-ACT

If you are taking the Pre-ACT tomorrow, you will report directly to the gymnasium when you arrive to school in the morning. You will need to have your student ID with you in order to check in. You will also need a number 2 pencil (no mechanical pencils allowed), a calculator, and I would recommend a watch.

The test will begin promptly by 8:40 and you will most likely finish testing during 5th period.  (If you have lunch during 3rd or 4th period we will be sure you have time to eat and give you pass to go to 5th period.)

We hope this will be a meaningful practice opportunity for you in preparation for future college admissions tests. Get some sleep tonight and good luck on the Pre-ACT tomorrow!

Senior Transcript Requests

Remember, you MUST request your transcript through the transcript request form in addition to inviting your counselor on Common App to submit your school forms. The transcript request form is on the Counselor Website - www.wkhscounselors.com - scroll down to the "Find it Fast" area. You MUST do this BEFORE the noon tomorrow at the absolute latest in order for your counselor to be able to upload your transcript on time.

Trick-or-Canning

And finally, to all of the students out collecting canned goods through the Trick or Canning effort either tonight or on Saturday, thank you for your leadership in our school and community!

Be Brave

I receive and read Daily Discipline newsletters by Brian Kight where he shares information on different topics that emphasize doing the daily actions we all would be better off by implementing in our lives.

One of those messages shared the following information about bravery:

"My six-year-old daughter loves to jump off things. “Dad! Watch this!” she’ll say as she climbs onto something just so she can leap off it.

But sometimes she gets scared. She wants to jump, but she’s afraid to jump. 
Her conflicting feelings create internal misalignment. Interest but hesitation. Excitement but caution. Ready but unwilling.

She gets stuck, unsure which voice to trust.

Her desire says, “JUMP!” Her fear says, “DON’T JUMP!” Her desire is strong enough that she won’t back down. Her fear is strong enough that she won’t leap forward.

So I gave her a strategy for dealing with fear. And now she uses it every time she feels stuck.

I ask her, “What do we do when we’re afraid?” 

And she answers back, “Be brave.” 

We’ve done it so many times that now she takes the lead. She’ll be doing something, start to get afraid, and lock eyes with me. She’ll ask first, “What do we do when we’re afraid?”

“Be brave,” I’ll say.

“That’s what I’m going to do, Dad.”

That’s usually all she needs. Then she takes her fear and she jumps.

She has permission to take risks and try things she wants to do. And permission to feel afraid while doing it. Because fear will always show up when she tries new things.

Her desires push her into her fears. Her fears stand in the way of her desires. One pushes forward. The other pulls back.

I tell my daughter, “It’s ok to be afraid. You don’t have to hide from it or make it go away. You can be afraid and jump anyway. That’s called being brave.” 

Mom and Dad have to do it all the time, too."

 And as I read it, I thought about how accurate this is and how often conversations with students hit on this topic. It’s normal for students to think they are the only ones who find themselves in situations where they are scared and have to respond anyway. But you are not. This is a common experience in life. So know that it is ok for you to be afraid. You can be afraid and find the courage to act at the same time – it is brave and it is possible!

Merit vs. Need Based Aid

Don't you wish money grew on trees and that you would always have all of the money that you needed? I know that is certainly a wish for many people - and it tends to show up big time when you begin thinking about the costs associated with going to college! There is no question that paying for college is expensive and higher education costs add up quickly so trying to find opportunities to get free money is important.

When you are thinking abotu paying for college and financial aid, there are two broad categories – Merit Based aid and Need Based aid.

Merit Based aid is what you think of when you think “Scholarships.” These are usually awarded to students based on academic achievements, leadership, athletics, special talents such as art or music, volunteerism, or other personal qualities that set you apart. These scholarships do not consider financial need. A significant portion of all merit-based aid comes directly from the college/ university. Some schools may require additional scholarship applications, essays, interviews, and many colleges will have earlier deadlines to be considered for their scholarships. It can be helpful to know that a lot of times the smaller, private colleges will have more money available for scholarships in order to help make attending their school competitive with the lower costs of the public colleges. Please also remember that there are scholarship offerings listed on the Counselor Website. It is important to keep an eye out for unique scholarships that might apply to your personal situation. Maybe you would qualify for an Italian heritage scholarship. Perhaps one of your grandparents won a purple heart or maybe you have time to write an essay for one of the other scholarship competitions… no matter what the situation, if you find a scholarship that you meet the criteria for go ahead and apply – you might be pleasantly surprised at the result and if you don’t apply, the answer is definitely a “no.”

Need Based aid is what you will sometimes hear people refer to as “Financial Aid” even though both Merit Based and Need Based aid technically fall under that overarching category. There are a variety of different Need Based aid programs which will require you to fill out the FAFSA in order to be considered for them and some which may ask for a CSS Profile. Grants are considered gift assistance – they give you money and you do not have to pay it back. Loans which can come from a wide variety of sources – the federal government, the college, and private banks is money that you are required to pay back. Work Study programs are on campus job opportunities that the government helps fund that allows you to earn money for college through working on campus. The big difference between Merit Based and Need Based aid is that Need Based aid is that the type and amount of Need Based aid you will receive depends upon the amount of financial need you have.

And, yes, just to add to the confusion – there are absolutely some scholarships that will consider financial need as a criterion. They are still awarding the scholarship based upon some specific aspect of who you are it is just allowing them to narrow down the potential applicant pool. And, there are also some college scholarships that will have the stipulation that you have a FAFSA on file before they can award the money to you.

One last important reminder - NEVER pay to be considered for a scholarship! That is a scam. Don't waste your money!

Hopefully seniors are working on looking for scholarship opportunities and completing the FAFSA. Those are ways to help address both merit and need based aid as potential ways to try to get some money to help make college a little more affordable.

Community Service Seal

In order to graduate from high school, all students must earn at least 2 seals. One of the seal options is the Community Service Seal. 

We know that there are a large number of students who are dedicated to serving others in the school and throughout the community and so we wanted to make sure you know that you can earn the Community Service Seal if you complete and document 40 hours of community service while in high school.

Your service hours do not have to be completed at the same place or over a particular amount of time - if you earn 40 hours in your 9th grade year, you earn the seal. If you didn't complete any service hours until your senior year, but then do 40 hours all in your senior year, you earn the seal. The key is keeping track of your hours using the district's designated community service tracking form. (For future reference, you can also find this form on the Counselor Website.)

Sharing your time, energy, talents and passions with others through volunteer service makes a huge difference in our school and in our community and we believe it also makes a difference in YOUR life too. Earning the seal for graduation is just one more perk to the good that you are doing through your community service outreach.

Career Podcast

It's always fun when we come across a new resource that can be useful to students. Obviously, we spend a lot of time talking with students about different careers. We try to help students have exposure to careers that they might not have previously considered through partnerships with the Delaware Area Career Center, the Pathways and Possibilities Day career professionals who come to school, and the field trips that we take.

But that is only a VERY small snapshot of all of the different careers that are out there. If you are interested in learning more about what people do all day at work in their jobs, then the "What it's like to be..." podcast could be enjoyable for you to check out. The podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, etc and it opens doors to careers you might not have thought much about previously. For example, Lineman, Forensic Accountant, Dog Groomer, Brain Surgeon, Marine Biologist, Hospice Nurse and so many more.

Within the podcast they interview people who love their work and discuss things like what's fun or what's stressful in the job. They also discuss who thrives in the job and share fun stories about the real life ins and outs of the careers.

If you're interested in learning more about careers, this could be a podcast you'll enjoy.

CSS Profile

We wanted to be sure to remind you that you need to look at your desired colleges closely to see what their financial aid requirements include.

At some of the more competitive colleges - particularly those who cover all of demonstrated need for students, in addition to requiring the FAFSA, many of those colleges will also require that students and families will submit the CSS profile. The FAFSA helps colleges determine federal aid, but the CSS profile helps colleges determine institutional aid. The CSS profile typically asks for a lot more detailed information from families than the FAFSA does. And while the FAFSA is free to complete, there are fees associated with the CSS profile.

Usually this is a topic students figure out as they are going through the whole financial aid application process and the CSS profile is just another step in that process, but you don't want to miss if your intended colleges are requiring the CSS profile and to watch your deadlines closely so that you don't miss them along with the FAFSA.

As always, feel free to stop and see your counselor if you have any questions about the CSS profile requirements.